Drivers in Hyderabad sweat under heat from high operating costs

Hyderabad: Drivers working with taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber in Hyderabad are struggling to make their ends meet. Owing to the high expenses of operating a taxi, a decent monthly wage is becoming hard to get.

A recent study conducted by the Centre for Labour Studies at NLSIU, Bangalore, and the Montfort Social Institute, Hyderabad, has found that drivers earn an average of Rs. 45,000 to Rs. 50,000 per month, after paying the commission to the taxi platforms.

It was found that the fuel costs ate away nearly 40 percent of the earnings, while over 10 percent went to maintenance of the vehicle. More than half of the respondents had to pay a large amount of their earnings towards EMIs. “The average EMI amount paid was Rs. 13000 per month, or over 25% of the total earnings,” the research found.

Adverse effects on health

Driving for over 12-hour immensely affects the body. Over 50 percent of the drivers suffered from chronic back, leg and joint pain, whereas half the respondents had ailments related to time pressure.

One of the drivers, who had acute back pain for two months, was advised regular physiotherapy. However, he carried on with work as he could not afford the treatment. The study also added that another worker was taking treatment for back pain for 2 years, spending around Rs. 1500-2000 each month.

Lack of support from platforms

The study revealed that drivers got little to no support from platforms like Uber and Ola. Platforms listened to customers, but ignored the complaints of drivers.

Drivers also blamed the lack of a human interface, saying that they never received satisfactory replies after raising a complaint through the apps.

Ugly monopoly

The study suggested that both Uber and Ola were responsive to drivers issues in 2016, when they had recently started operating in Hyderabad. However, after gaining monopoly, the platforms showed a different side of their business model.

Despite finding platforms like Quickride, Cab Bazaar and Choice, better platforms to work with, drivers were unable to leaver Uber and Ola as they controlled most of the market.